June 1st, 2010

From 1996 to 1999, the U.S. food and Drug Administration approved 157 new drugs. In the comparable period a decade later—that is, from 2006 to 2009—the agency approved 74. Not among them were any cures, or even meaningfully effective treatments, for Alzheimer’s disease, lung or pancreatic cancer, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, or a host of other afflictions that destroy lives.

PHILADELPHIA — Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is safe and effective for select patients with brain metastases from breast cancer, researchers said here on May 4 at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS).